Getting Older

Not long ago, my six-year old grandson took me aback. “Granny,” he asked innocently enough. “Would you do me a favour?” I assumed he wanted another biscuit (cookie) or to watch some more television. “Granny,” he continued…

Do you know someone who will be blowing out 90 candles on their birthday cake? Ok, it’s probably not a good idea to put 90 candles on a birthday cake, but you know what I mean. Celebrating 90 years of life is quite a big deal…

While taking a break one afternoon from the physical and mental gymnastics that only a cross-country move can produce, I took the time to read an article about a 58-year-old actress who was ‘rockin’’ a swimsuit…

In the past month or so, I have noticed that I am ready to move on. I am ready to move on from politics. I am ready to move on from yelling at each other. I am ready to move on from fearing what may happen. I am ready to move on with my life. When I look back, I am…

I did not get along with my mom. We both had strong personalities, different ways of looking at life, and personal issues that made it hard to be nice to each other. Once I became old enough to speak up, we were off and running, fighting for the last word and sometimes…

“I just never thought I was old.” This is the wisdom shared by many older adults over 90. They say they don’t and never have considered themselves to be old. They really do not feel old, so why act that way? I read about a 102-year-old who was…

There was something momentous on the horizon, I felt – a celebration of our longevity after decades of surviving in a male-dominated world – to acknowledge a new stage of life and all that it took to get there. Birthdays and anniversaries are fine…

Role reversal, whether it is as a parent/child or even a grandparent/grandchild, never quite feels right. Becoming the “let me help you” person in the relationship is not how it likely went for most of your life. But with aging, that sometimes changes or needs to change…

‘Ageism’ is a word first coined in 1969 by American psychiatrist Robert N. Butler. He was referring to systematic stereotyping or discrimination against people because they are old. Through the years, the definition of ‘ageism’ has evolved to mean prejudice…

Eugenie was telling me how wonderful she felt. This was unusual and unexpected because she was in her early 70s and had several health challenges, but on this day she told me: “Something has shifted, and it’s all because I did something…